Ex-Air Force Officer Pleads Guilty in False Astronaut Bank Claim

Summer Heather Worden, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, pleaded guilty on November 13 to making false statements to federal investigators after accusing her estranged wife, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, of illegally accessing a bank account from the International Space Station in 2019. The allegation, which briefly captured global attention as a potential first crime in space, stemmed from a contentious divorce and custody dispute between the two women in Texas.

Worden, 50, from Sedgwick County, Kansas, claimed that McClain guessed her password and accessed the account in January 2019 while aboard the ISS during a six-month mission. The accusation prompted investigations by the Federal Trade Commission and NASA's Office of Inspector General. However, federal prosecutors determined the claim was fabricated. Court documents revealed that Worden opened the personal account in April 2018 amid deteriorating relations, but she had previously granted McClain access to her financial records dating back to at least 2015 for shared family expenses. Both women continued using the account until Worden changed the credentials in early 2019.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's...